The Lanes

by Geoffrey Mead

Brighton’s Old Town Conservation Area, usually known as ‘The Lanes’ is an example of a 17th century urban layout, one of few remaining in England but with almost no early buildings. How does this come about? Brighton has two long standing ‘enemies,’ Ye Great Storm & Ye French! Storms sweeping eastwards from the Atlantic have ravaged the Sussex coast for millennia devastating the town on many occasions notably in 1703 and 1705, our neighbours ‘Ye French’ have burnt the town often, most recently in 1514.

The principal streets North, West, Middle and East had one central area of open land termed ‘The Hempshares’ probably denoting the growing of the crop for net, sail and cordage making and it was this agricultural heart of the town that was developed later for two other thoroughfares, Black Lion Street and Ship Street, both named from taverns located in them.

The best way to understand The Lanes is to walk through them, a good start is from the corner of North Street and East Street; today East Street is lined with a range of fashion outlets and restaurants with national and international names, but in the Brighton Rate Books held at The Keep archive, it is recorded that in 1744 rates annually in East Street were 6d(2.5p) while a short way upslope in Ship Street the cost was 2/6d (12.5p], a fivefold increase. The reason for this turn around in urban fortunes is the future King of England building a house at the end of the street! This had a dramatic effect on property values.

Why was East Street so low in value in the early part of the 18th century? Most British cities have developed with a ‘West End’ and an ‘East End’ and we know well the social aspect of these two communities; that is because the main airflow across the British Isles is blowing in from the Atlantic, and pollution, smuts and smells are blown eastward, those with the funds choose the western side of the city and those with less income are spaced out eastward, with the poorest communities generally to the east end. East Street is also close to the Wellesbourne stream that flows along the valley from Patcham and this low lying situation made it a less than favourable spot, especially in the wetter, winter months. In the 1700s this area was housing one part of the town’s fishing community, by then at the bottom of the social ladder. Walk up Market Street, which rises from East Street and notice it is quite a climb to Brighton Place. This part of the Lanes was then termed The Knab, and here also was one of the town wells; a bar nearby is named The Pump House. This building has fine bow windows and is clad in Mathematical tiles; these are clay tiles pegged onto a wooden frame and are usually dipped in a blue-black shiny glaze, there are several other examples in Market Street and elsewhere in the older parts of Brighton. Near the Pump House is the Druids Arms, a flint-fronted structure that earlier was known as the ‘carriers pub’ as this was where the country carriers bringing in vegetables early in the morning to the Market would stay over for an hour or two before the journey back home.

Moving along Meeting House Lane, a narrow ‘twitten’ near the pub, brings us to… a Meeting House! This is the Quaker Meeting House but not the reason for the street name; we need to head north along the Lane to another Meeting House which is the former Presbyterian Meeting House established in 1688 now the Font pub. Meeting House Lane has thus two Meeting Houses. Continue along the Lane until almost in North Street then turn into the 10 year-old Hannington’s Lane, a very successful incorporation of a 21st century streetscape into the 17th century Old Town, with a fine use of local materials and a sympathetic street plan that winds around as do the older Lanes. Go back through Brighton Square, a 1960s addition to this area and unusually for that period a nice grouping of shops with flats above, with five access points into other parts of The Lanes.

From the Square head into Prince Albert Street which dates from 1842 when the road was constructed through the heart of the Old Town to alleviate traffic congestion in North Street. At the top of Black Lion Street are two interesting pubs, the Cricketers and the Black Lion. The Cricketers was established in the 1500s and was formerly known as ‘The Last & Fishcart’; this curious name refers to the fishing industry which at that period was the main trade of the town, a ‘Last’ was a measurement of 10,000 fish. Its name changed in 1790 when a prominent cricketer Thomas Jutton acquired it.

The Black Lion next door is not all it seems, as a plaque low on the wall shows. The former building was illegally demolished in 1973 before being reconstructed in 1974, a great sadness as this was until then the oldest secular building in the town; it was the office and store for the brewery, which was next door, the actual pub was across the street lower down. The Black Lion refers to the brewery founder, Deryck Carver, a Flemish religious refugee who came to Brighton early the 1500s; the Black Lion is the symbol for Flanders. Coming as a Protestant refugee he suffered burning at the stake in Lewes as an unrepenting Protestant under the orders of Catholic Queen Mary.

Pass along Black Lion Lane and out onto Ship Street, the place that was five times more expensive to live in than East Street, and that is obvious when the size and appearance of the houses here is noted, much grander than anything we have seen so far, then occupied by wealthy traders and merchants. One property has the date 1685 above the door, which if correct makes it one of very few complete 17th century houses in the city. Head westward into Ship Street Gardens, where on the south side a large fig tree hangs over the wall, a remnant of what must have been more extensive greenery along here at one time. At the end of the lane pass into Middle Street, the house on the south corner is a fine example of local decorative flintwork; high on a wall end to the south is ‘Garrett’s builders, decorators ,plumbers etc;’ the sign shows that at one time the area was one of ‘blue-collar’ work, with manufacturing in many premises. Further south the large pale brick building is the Middle Street Synagogue whose interior is noted as being the finest in the UK, this opened in 1874 and although now closed is about to undergo extensive renovation. Middle Street being so close to the shoreline was the location, along with Ship Street, of the offices of coal importing firms from the late 18th century.

A short walk along Boyces Street shows another former land use with ‘Mineral Water Manufacturer’ painted high on a wall. The Middle Street area was the main provider of mineral water for nearly two centuries, with at one time four firms in a very small area. Boyces Street brings West Street into view with two notable buildings; one being 77 West Street, now a night club, but the one surviving example of an early 19th century, smart and double bow-fronted ‘West End’ house. Almost opposite is ‘St. Pauls in the Fisherie’ built in 1848 and originally named for being in the heart of the West Street fishing community, what was then a very poor district. It is one of a large number of ‘High’ churches developed by the Wagner family in the town.